Building work sequence

[Brown and Boris]

Just what order do I do all this in so that we don't get one job ruining another?

I have some work to be done on my dining room after the floods 18 months ago ( I know I have left it, I just couldn't face the whole house stripped bare at the same time). The house is an old stone rubble 18th century place so everything is pretty solid and there is no plasterboard or studding.

The plaster has to come off 1 metre up the wall and the wall behind tanked, and replastered. The skirting boards have probably rotted too in one corner so the skirting boards all around may need replacing to match them up with the kitchen next door.

Mrs BandB wants all the walls skimming so we can paint rather than wallpaper in the future and wants a nice smooth finish so you can't see the line between the replastering and the old plaster further up. We also want to take the chance to replace the relatively modern marblesque fireplace with an old cast iron one, take out the carpets and sand/stain and wax the lovely original floorboards underneath.

My final plan is to open up the old cellars as I recall the old entrance is in the corner of the room. It is full of sand at the moment which would have to be dug out.

I am not sure whether the fireplace needs to go in before the plastering or if it can just sit on top (it won't be used as the previous owner installed a modern narow flue liner in the chimney and it smokes the house out if we try to use it). Should I sort the cellar before the plaster comes off so I don't have the dust from the plaster everywhere for weeks or simultaneously to save on skip hire by getting bigger skips? Skimming straight after the plastering or leave it until the cellar is done to prevent any damge during that work?

[rsv gone!]

Sounds like there is an awful lot to do. As a general rule, start at the top and work yourself down/out.

If you want a decent finish on the walls then you should really take all of the plaster off.

It is going to be a mucky job so your best best is to live elsewhere whilst it is going on.

[svm]

You've got to ask yourself why the cellar is full of sand.

People don't genrally dump tons and tons of sand in a cellar, unless they have to.

[MrV]

Brown and Boris said:

Just what order do I do all this in so that we don't get one job ruining another?

I have some work to be done on my dining room after the floods 18 months ago ( I know I have left it, I just couldn't face the whole house stripped bare at the same time). The house is an old stone rubble 18th century place so everything is pretty solid and there is no plasterboard or studding.

The plaster has to come off 1 metre up the wall and the wall behind tanked, and replastered. The skirting boards have probably rotted too in one corner so the skirting boards all around may need replacing to match them up with the kitchen next door.

Mrs BandB wants all the walls skimming so we can paint rather than wallpaper in the future and wants a nice smooth finish so you can't see the line between the replastering and the old plaster further up. We also want to take the chance to replace the relatively modern marblesque fireplace with an old cast iron one, take out the carpets and sand/stain and wax the lovely original floorboards underneath.

My final plan is to open up the old cellars as I recall the old entrance is in the corner of the room. It is full of sand at the moment which would have to be dug out.

I am not sure whether the fireplace needs to go in before the plastering or if it can just sit on top (it won't be used as the previous owner installed a modern narow flue liner in the chimney and it smokes the house out if we try to use it). Should I sort the cellar before the plaster comes off so I don't have the dust from the plaster everywhere for weeks or simultaneously to save on skip hire by getting bigger skips? Skimming straight after the plastering or leave it until the cellar is done to prevent any damge during that work?

In your case I would start at the bottom and work your way up.

As stated it does seem rather strange that the cellar/cellars have been filled with sand ,you could well have a major damp problem down there you have to deal with before you can use them and may well have to have them tanked.

It seems a shame to go to all this effort and not get the fire working have you not thought about having a larger flue fitted ?

You can fix the fire surround after the plastering ,if it is a cast iron one they tend to just have four fixing points (two either side,top and bottom) that you just screw to the wall.

[Brown and Boris]

svm said:

You've got to ask yourself why the cellar is full of sand.

People don't genrally dump tons and tons of sand in a cellar, unless they have to.

I am thinking you are right and that it is wet because it is a sort of 'sump' for the ground water, although the walls were dry until the floods.

I think I will lift the boards and drive a wooden pole down bit by bit to see what I hit/how damp it is (might find the steps too at the same time which would making any digging out easier. I had hoped the damp was from splash penetration but fear it might be soaking from surrounding higher ground (the dining room is about 2 feet underground). The dampproofing was done about 18 years ago with a 15 year warranty but I see the guy who had it done had the contractors back within 18 months and then sold it so it may be a longe term problem. After taking I think we might emulsion rather than paper as we can't dig the ground back around it to get at the outside as it is the public pavement and the neighbours drive. Some of it is from the floods as the pumps were pumping water out onto the neighbours drive and it was running back against the house wall (least of my worries at the time with water in the house for 3 days)

[mrmaggit]

Re the Cellar, you can get linings that give you a flat area to plaster to, whilst the water seeps through the outer wall, is collected in a channel, then pumped out.

www.newton-membranes.co.uk

HTH

Editted for typo.

Edited by mrmaggit on Sunday 25th January 10:49